SVB warning for southern WI growers

jmsieglaff · June 27, 2015

Last year I had zero problems with SVB. Last night I took off 6 or so SVB eggs. Today I removed 24 from 3 mini pumpkin plants, another 8 off a zucchini plant and another 7-8 off a collection of other squash plants. I don't know if it is just bad luck for me this year or if this a warning of a particularly bad year. The eggs are so small I'm sure it's so hard to not miss all and it only takes one to ruin a plant. Ugh.

b54red · June 27, 2015

SVB is a major problem down here every year. If you do nothing to stop them then about time you start picking squash they start dying from the vine borers. I have found a way of preventing that or at least delaying it for months. I use a duster and apply a good dusting of Sevin dust on and around the stem near the ground. The problem is you have to reapply it after heavy rains or a good watering but if you maintain some of the dust on the stems it will keep most of the borers out for a long long time. I am usually so sick of squash by the time I finally quit dusting and let the borers do their thing. By applying it to just the base of the stem late in the evening and not on the upper stem and blooms I have seen no lessening of my bee population and if anything it has steadily increased so maybe having the squash live so much longer is good for them.

Bill

pauldavid · June 28, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by b54red

SVB is a major problem down here every year. If you do nothing to stop them then about time you start picking squash they start dying from the vine borers. I have found a way of preventing that or at least delaying it for months. I use a duster and apply a good dusting of Sevin dust on and around the stem near the ground. The problem is you have to reapply it after heavy rains or a good watering but if you maintain some of the dust on the stems it will keep most of the borers out for a long long time. I am usually so sick of squash by the time I finally quit dusting and let the borers do their thing. By applying it to just the base of the stem late in the evening and not on the upper stem and blooms I have seen no lessening of my bee population and if anything it has steadily increased so maybe having the squash live so much longer is good for them.

Bill

Good tip! Thanks Bill.

Durgan · June 28, 2015

I don't even try growing squash anymore. The SVB destroys my beautiful plants completely, so I gave up.

Wi-sunflower · June 28, 2015

I rarely have issues with SVB here. But we usually have problems with cucumber beetles on the newly germinated plants. More than just 1 or 2 will kill the plants.

For years we tried Sevin spray with hardly any good results. Then DH found a duster at a resale shop. The Sevin DUST does a good job on the beetles. So far this year tho we haven't even seen any. But I haven't been out to check the winter squash yet.

Carol

Durgan · June 30, 2015

This was my 2012 disaster. The SVB destroyed my squash and simultaneously the cucumber beetle appeared in large numbers. So far this year 2015 I have seen only four cucumber beetles, since it has been so cold. I no longer grow squash.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?HINIX 19 June 2012 Striped Cucumber Beetles destroyed
This morning about seven, upon checking the squash plants it was observed that there were many Striped Cucumber Beetles congregating within the three open male flowers. Now how to destroy? In the shed I keep a can of Raid to destroy hornet nests when they appear. I fetched the Raid and gave each flower one spray, within about 20 seconds all the beetles were completely dead. The last picture shows the result of the spray, Talk about serendipity! Fifty Striped Cucumber Beetles destroyed in one effort. Up to today, I have only seen then singularly about the garden.
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?SERRT 18 June 2012 Striped Cucumber Beetle (Acalymma vittatum (Fabricius)
Inspecting the garden, it was observed two male squash flowers were covered with the Striped Cucumber Beetle. There were about 25 on each flower. I grabbed the flowers complete and immersed it in water to take pictures. I have observed them singularly on various plant mostly the potatoes. They are hard to catch, since they fly quickly.Apparently they are very destructive.

Nematode · June 30, 2015

Give this the "I heard about it but havent tried it" level of credibility.
Supposedly blue Hubbard can be grown as a trap crop for SVB.

Wi-sunflower · June 30, 2015

Well I got out to the winter squash area on Sunday and didn't see a 1 on nearly 4 acres of plants. Good for now.

Carol

encore · June 30, 2015

not to sound stupid but what is SVB? some type of beetle?-----thanks (notice a lot of people use abreviations on here and haven't figured them all out yet lol)

jmsieglaff · June 30, 2015

Good to hear Carol! Hope that continues.

SVB=squash vine borer, it is an evil creature.

June 27, 2015	#1
jmsieglaff Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Southern WI Posts: 2,742	SVB warning for southern WI growers Last year I had zero problems with SVB. Last night I took off 6 or so SVB eggs. Today I removed 24 from 3 mini pumpkin plants, another 8 off a zucchini plant and another 7-8 off a collection of other squash plants. I don't know if it is just bad luck for me this year or if this a warning of a particularly bad year. The eggs are so small I'm sure it's so hard to not miss all and it only takes one to ruin a plant. Ugh.

June 30, 2015	#6
Durgan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Brantford, ON, Canada Posts: 1,341	This was my 2012 disaster. The SVB destroyed my squash and simultaneously the cucumber beetle appeared in large numbers. So far this year 2015 I have seen only four cucumber beetles, since it has been so cold. I no longer grow squash. http://www.durgan.org/URL/?HINIX 19 June 2012 Striped Cucumber Beetles destroyed This morning about seven, upon checking the squash plants it was observed that there were many Striped Cucumber Beetles congregating within the three open male flowers. Now how to destroy? In the shed I keep a can of Raid to destroy hornet nests when they appear. I fetched the Raid and gave each flower one spray, within about 20 seconds all the beetles were completely dead. The last picture shows the result of the spray, Talk about serendipity! Fifty Striped Cucumber Beetles destroyed in one effort. Up to today, I have only seen then singularly about the garden. http://www.durgan.org/URL/?SERRT 18 June 2012 Striped Cucumber Beetle (Acalymma vittatum (Fabricius) Inspecting the garden, it was observed two male squash flowers were covered with the Striped Cucumber Beetle. There were about 25 on each flower. I grabbed the flowers complete and immersed it in water to take pictures. I have observed them singularly on various plant mostly the potatoes. They are hard to catch, since they fly quickly.Apparently they are very destructive. Last edited by Durgan; June 30, 2015 at 04:21 AM.

June 27, 2015	#2
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	SVB is a major problem down here every year. If you do nothing to stop them then about time you start picking squash they start dying from the vine borers. I have found a way of preventing that or at least delaying it for months. I use a duster and apply a good dusting of Sevin dust on and around the stem near the ground. The problem is you have to reapply it after heavy rains or a good watering but if you maintain some of the dust on the stems it will keep most of the borers out for a long long time. I am usually so sick of squash by the time I finally quit dusting and let the borers do their thing. By applying it to just the base of the stem late in the evening and not on the upper stem and blooms I have seen no lessening of my bee population and if anything it has steadily increased so maybe having the squash live so much longer is good for them. Bill

June 28, 2015	#4
Durgan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Brantford, ON, Canada Posts: 1,341	I don't even try growing squash anymore. The SVB destroys my beautiful plants completely, so I gave up.

June 28, 2015	#5
Wi-sunflower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 2,591	I rarely have issues with SVB here. But we usually have problems with cucumber beetles on the newly germinated plants. More than just 1 or 2 will kill the plants. For years we tried Sevin spray with hardly any good results. Then DH found a duster at a resale shop. The Sevin DUST does a good job on the beetles. So far this year tho we haven't even seen any. But I haven't been out to check the winter squash yet. Carol

June 30, 2015	#7
Nematode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2012 Location: massachusetts Posts: 1,710	Give this the "I heard about it but havent tried it" level of credibility. Supposedly blue Hubbard can be grown as a trap crop for SVB.

June 30, 2015	#9
encore Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2015 Location: wisconsin Posts: 536	not to sound stupid but what is SVB? some type of beetle?-----thanks (notice a lot of people use abreviations on here and haven't figured them all out yet lol)